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Criminal Law and Civil Liberties

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine invented out of whole cloth by the U.S. Supreme Court that protects government agents, including particularly law enforcement officers, who violate someone’s constitutional rights from federal civil liability. The Cato Institute is pleased to announce a new website dedicated to explaining how and why the qualified immunity doctrine needs to be eliminated.

For over 60 years, the executive branch has, through regulatory fiat, imposed a “border zone” that extends as much as 100 miles into the United States. Within this area are a series of Soviet-style internal checkpoints run by the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protecton (CBP) service. <em><a href=”https://www.cato.org/checkpoint-america“>Checkpoint America: Monitoring The Constitution-Free Zone</a></em> is a new Cato project designed to map these internal checkpoints and provide the public with information on their operations, as well as the chance to help improve our information on and understanding of activities at these checkpoints.

As many expected, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has suspended Obama-era guidance documents pertaining to the federal treatment of marijuana in those states where marijuana has been legalized for recreational use. According to Catoscholars, it’s time for the millions of Americans who support increased research on marijuana, the relaxation of federal marijuana laws, outright legalization or anything in between to call on their representatives to clarify the relationship between federal and state marijuana laws.

Thanks to information recently released by the Senate Judiciary Committee, we now have fresh, incontrovertible evidence that elements of the Intelligence Community (IC) have monitored the communications of employees or contractors seeking to report waste, fraud, abuse or potential criminal conduct by IC agencies—including communications to House and Senate committees charged with oversight of the IC.

Sadly, all that Congress and the White House have to brag about is
a policy that is driving non-medical users to more dangerous drugs
and causing desperate pain patients to turn to the black market or
to suicide for relief. They should refrain from uncorking the
champagne.

Of Special Note

Ten years after the Supreme Court’s infamous
eminent domain decision, Kelo v. New London, Timothy and
Christina Sanderfur’s Cornerstone of Liberty examines how
dozens of new developments in courtrooms and legislatures across
the country have shifted the landscape of private property rights
since 2005. Through a combination of real-life stories and solid
legal analysis, the authors explain how key issues like eminent
domain, civil asset forfeiture, and environmental protection
regulations have evolved and how they should be reformed.

New Site

Special! 10 Copies for $10

To encourage people everywhere to better
understand and appreciate the principles of government that are set
forth in America’s founding documents, the Cato Institute published
this pocket-size edition.

If we wish to live in a free society, the rule of
law must be paramount - equally applicable to those who govern and
those who are governed. But-how much law? How is it crafted and
enforced? And, what challenges does the American constitutional
system of law face at a time of growing political and ideological
hostility? Cato University’s College of Law, being held in New
Orleans, March 15-17, 2018 will energetically address these topics.
Full details and registration now available.